ON THE UP AND UP: SQUADRON, SILVER, MALONEY, VELAZQUEZ, BREWER, CHIN ANNOUNCE THAT EAST BROADWAY F ESCALATOR RETURNS TO SERVICE

Escalator Comes Back Online After 19 Months, Following Push By Electeds & Community

LOWER EAST SIDE -- Today, State Senator Daniel Squadron, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Congressmembers Carolyn Maloney and Nydia Velazquez, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, and Councilmember Margaret Chin announced that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has finally completed repairs to the escalator at the East Broadway F train subway station following an extensive push by the elected officials and the community. The escalator has been out of service since August 2012; it briefly came back online last week but was quickly taken out of service due to electrical issues that agencies say are now resolved.

"After far too many months, things are finally on the up and up for Lower East Side riders as our escalator returns to service," said Senator Daniel Squadron. "Our community depends on the East Broadway F -- yet for 19 months it was too difficult for many riders to even use the station. Thank you to the MTA for finally heeding our calls and the community for standing together to make sure we were heard."

Speaker Silver said, "This long overdue restoration of escalator service at the East Broadway station is welcome news for our Lower East Side community. Residents of our neighborhood suffer from limited public transportation options and we rely heavily on this escalator. I expect that it will remain in service without any more lengthy interruptions. This station is a lifeline for our entire community and many of our seniors are unable to use it without a functioning escalator. I want to thank the MTA for finally listening to our urgent concerns."

“I am happy that the MTA has finished repairing the East Broadway station’s escalator, and I would like to thank Senator Squadron for his leadership on this issue. New York straphangers deserve some relief after enduring the inconvenience of a broken escalator for over a year and a half,” said Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12).

Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) said, “Getting the East Broadway escalator up and running is long overdue. This important step will ensure elderly and other vulnerable residents have access to the transportation services they need.”

“It’s great that the escalator is coming back – congratulations to the community for keeping the pressure on, and thanks to the MTA for responding," said Borough President Gale Brewer.

“After months of uncertainty, the Lower East Side community will finally have access to a fully functional East Broadway subway station. In a neighborhood where transit options are already limited, residents, and especially our seniors, deserve unimpeded access to public transportation. This is a major victory for a community that fought long and hard for these essential repairs, and I thank the MTA for finally completing the project and recognizing the importance of this subway station in the Lower East Side,” said Councilmember Margaret Chin.

"This much-needed repair will help more than 13,000 people who use the East Broadway subway station on an average weekday. Special thanks to Senator Squadron, Speaker Silver and all of the elected officials from the community who pushed so hard to make these long-overdue repairs happen," said John Raskin, Executive Director of the Riders Alliance, a grassroots organization of subway and bus riders that collected more than 500 petition signatures urging immediate repairs to the escalator.